Page 3 - July 13, 2017

Thursday, July 13, 2017 The Independent
McCharles wonders if tougher standards needed for urban woodland removal
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Heather Wright
of trees.
“I noted approximately 80
area it is noticed sooner than if a farmer removes a stand of trees in a remote rural area.
The Independent
per cent of the trees where dead ash from Emerald Ash Borer which may in fact take the area below the min- imum number of trees to be considered woodland.”
Petrolia Mayor John McCharles says Lambton County may have to address the issue of cutting woodlots in urban areas.
McCharles says in this case there was no applica- tion to remove the trees. He says if there had been the lot perhaps ‘could have been cleared in a different way or partially cleared.”
A wooded area on Tank Street was removed this week
and Market
July 22, 2017 • 10am-4pm
Outdoor Show at the Train Station
157 McRae St, Glencoe (Rain Location - Glencoe Ag Hall)
This week, a wide swath of trees on Tank Street was removed.
McCharles, who is now a member of the Woodlands Hearing Board, says urban wooded areas may need closer examination.
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Tim Payne, the Wood- land Conservation Of cer
in Lambton, looked at the area and says it appears the area was less than an acre. Wooded areas over an acre are automatically considered under the county’s Wood- lands Conservation Bylaw. The bylaw also covers areas with a large number
He says the amount of trees which were removed on Tank Street is “a little bit disturbing” adding there is “basically little or no regula- tion against tree removal in urban areas.”
He suggested it might be a good idea to look at the rules surrounding urban woodlots.
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The Independent
e Art Room
Dave “Ozzy” Osborne couldn’t bear to watch.
Margaret McEachren
theartroom@hotmail.com
Home: 519-287-2547
Cell: 519-281-4847 Back-Up: Steve MacDonald
519-287-2015 x112
The former owner of the Squire Tavern headed off to work Thursday before workers came to remove the iconic bar’s sign from Petrolia’s main street.
Osborne closed the bar
in 2012 but not before auctioning off some of the articles that added character to the bar which hosted
the Memorial Cup, the Allen Cup and a few farm animals over the course of its history.
Tim Campbell, like many other people who grew up in the 70s and 80s spent a fair amount of time at the bar. He saw a horse come through the building “a couple of times.”
Ontario graced the arches
of The Squire...Ozzy’s Christmas Eve parties were famous around the country. I don’t think you nd anyone who hasn’t been in The Squire.”
He was at the auction years ago and bought the orange and white sign with the black and yellow lantern on the top. Standing on Petrolia Line Thursday, he still didn’t have a reason for his unusual purchase.
Local historian Dave
Hext was taking pictures and video of the moment in history. “The Squire is only 44 years old but a lot of history has happened there,” he says. “That was the time when the age of majority went from 21 years old to 18 years old, so this became sort of a teen hangout.”
were held. Hext recalls when his wife was a student at St. Philip’s Catholic School, she attended class in The Squire’s back room while the school’s addition was being built.
Until now, Campbell didn’t have a place to put it. So, ve year later, he hired a company to bring the sign back to his farm on Petrolia Line.
Hext says where now people use social media to make plans to meet, at that time, people would simply head downtown to see who was hanging out at The Squire. “You could come down the street and both sides of the street would be full of cars. There are a lot of memories for kids who grew up in the 70s and 80s.
And as people watched the sign being brought down, the man behind the sign
– Ozzy – couldn’t bear to watch. He saw the photos on line and wrote: “What a pull on the heartstrings when
While two workers from Signworks worked, a small crowd gathered on the street which included Sarnia- Lambton MPP Bob Bailey. He was waiting on the street for about a half hour and posed with the sign.
I see the pictures. All the memories ashed through my brain when I stared at the building after work. And I smiled! I would have bawled like a baby watching it anyway.
“I’ve been known to be there,” says Bailey of The Squire. “I can remember after the Allen Cup games coming out here on the street and there was daylight.”
“If you say The Squire, everyone knows what you’re talking about.”
“I know Tim will give it a nice home and hopefully hangs it where we can all see it.”
“I think pretty well everyone in southwestern
And Hext says in its early days, The Squire held one of the nest restaurants in town where wedding receptions
McCharles says when trees are removed in an urban
McCharles added it is “too late now” to do anything about the Tank Street area.
The end of an era: Squire sign comes down
Crews take down the iconic Squire Tavern sign Thursday. Heather Wright Photos
Heather Wright
“It is almost like we’re picking on farmers and we don’t pay attention to the rest of the area.”